Pittsburgh

Steelers

McRee, 23, produced a career-best 30/450/4 receiving line as a redshirt senior last year, promisingly averaging 15.0 yards per reception. NFL’s Lance Zierlein and The Athletic’s Dane Brugler appreciate McRee’s toughness and fearless playing style as a receiver and blocker, but note that it can lead to unnecessary physical exposure. He tore his left ACL in high school, his right ACL in December 2023 and missed three games in 2024 due to a nonspecific left knee sprain. McRee stands 6’4/243 and ran a 4.79-second 40 at USC’s Pro Day. McRee has a chance to make an the Steelers’ roster but is unlikely to be relevant in fantasy.

The former Navy Midshipmen lined up all over the formation as a receiving weapon out of the backfield, out wide, in the slot and even in line. Heidenreich stands 6’/198. He outright led or tied for the team-high in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in each of the last three seasons, and now holds Navy records for the most all-time receiving yards (1,994), single-season receiving yards (941), receiving yards in a game (243) and ties for the most single-season receiving touchdowns (six). In his final college season, Heidenreich posted a 77/499/3 rushing line, a 51/941/6 receiving line, produced a 12.6-yard aDOT and earned second-team All-American Athletic Conference honors. He averaged an exceptional 4.36 yards per route run over the course of his career and gained substantial hype in the fantasy world during the pre-draft process. Keep tabs on him this summer in the Steelers running back room.

Spears-Jennings (6’2/205) played a backup role for the Sooner as an underclassmen. He opened his junior season as a backup but took over as a full-time starter in his third game. RSJ proved to be a great find for Oklahoma as he racked up 2.5 sacks, one interception, and an SEC-leading four forced fumbles. Spears-Jennings couldn’t sustain the big plays in his final season and was limited to one forced fumble, one pick, and no sacks. Spears-Jennings doesn’t have a great feel for zone coverage and looks a bit stiff when matched up with receivers in man coverage. Despite the down season, Spears-Jennings kept his draft stock afloat at the NFL Combine with a blazing 4.32 40-yard dash. He may be best suited for a two-down role in the pros, but his 2024 production and straight-line speed should be enough to earn that gig in the long run. He also has nearly 500 career special teams snaps to his name, meaning his team won’t have any issues finding work for him as a rookie.

Rubio (6'5/321) was a four-star recruit for the Fighting Irish in 2021. He spent the first three years of his career as a backup before working his way into a rotational role in 2024, when he amassed 2.5 TFLs and one sack. His 2025 season ended after just six games because of an elbow injury. Gabriel is a solid run-defender who doesn’t bring much to the table as a pass-rusher. Given his limited body of work, he will likely be considered a developmental piece for the Steelers.

Nowakowski will enter a tight end room with Darnell Washington and Pat Freiermuth. He’s unlikely to see consistent playing time behind the veterans. Nowakowski (6’2/250) spent six years in the Big 10, with the first five coming at Wisconsin. He transferred to eventual national champion Indiana for 2025, where he proceeded to nearly double his previous career receptions total. He enters the pros with just 50 grabs across 50 college appearances, though the 32 he posted in 2025 provide hope he could eventually be more than just a blocker. But “just a blocker” is what he is at the moment, and not a particularly big one at that. Built much more like a fullback than tight end, Nowakowski will have to learn to ply his trade on special teams before getting a shot on offense.

Spending a fourth round pick on a kick returner is certainly a choice. Wetjen, 24, is a decorated return specialist whose elite traits should earn him an NFL roster spot. He spent two seasons at Iowa Western Community College before transferring to Iowa in 2022. In each of the past two seasons, Wetjen won the Jet Award, given to college football’s best return specialist, was named Big Ten Return Specialist of the Year and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors. He was a first-team All-American in 2024 and a Consensus All-American in 2025. Among P4 return specialists with 20-plus returns, Wetjen’s 28.5 yards per kick return ranks second, and he tops the charts with 26.8 yards per punt return and a 1.1 missed tackles forced average.

Dunker (6’5/315) anchored the Iowa line in 2025 with a season defined by consistency and a notably clean profile in both phases. He logged 680 snaps, spending all of his work at right tackle, and allowed pressure on 3.1 percent of his 288 pass-block reps, contributing to a commendable 78.8 pass-block PFF grade and a 98.0 pass-block efficiency against one of the most blitz-heavy defensive schedules in the Big Ten. As a run blocker, Dunker was even better—moving bodies on outside zone and gap calls en route to an 81.4 run-block PFF grade, while committing three penalties on the year. His 0.5 percent blown run block rate was sparkling by any standard for a high-volume tackle and helped Iowa sustain one of the league’s most efficient gap-running attacks, particularly on short-yardage. He held up well athletically at the Combine, running a 5.16s 40-yard dash (74th percentile), 4.83s shuttle (82nd percentile) and a 32.5” vertical (94th percentile) for a solid 8.61 RAS. Dunker’s known for his powerful frame and ability to finish defenders who get in his way on run plays, however his lackluster movement ability could push him inside at the pro level.

Everette (6’1/196) brings an NFL-ready frame with a 9.89 RAS, pairing 4.38s speed (96th%) and a 37.5” vertical (82nd%) with prototype outside length. Over 1,413 career coverage snaps, he allowed 120 receptions on 201 targets (59.7%) for 1,475 yards and 12.3 yards per catch, reflecting steady but unspectacular downfield efficiency. In 2025, Everette yielded 38 catches for 440 yards (11.6 Y/R) with a 55.9% catch rate while improving his tackling to 40 stops with just a 8.8% missed tackle rate. His physicality shows up at the catch point and in run support, where his size and leverage allow him to finish through contact and disrupt timing routes. Everette will join a Steelers secondary that last year allowed the 17th highest drop back EPA.

A year ago, Allar’s (6’5”/228) stock was at an all-time high, as the former Nittany Lion was viewed as a potential top-five draft pick after throwing for 3,327-24-8 in his third year on campus. Unfortunately, the decision to return to Penn State in 2025 dealt a heavy blow to Allar’s draft stock after his passing numbers regressed in the six games he appeared in, and a broken left ankle prematurely ended his season. It doesn’t take long to look at Allar and see that he has the size and arm strength to make it in the NFL, but that will only get a player so far. Whether by design or not, Allar has pedestrian numbers for his career as far as YPA (7.4) and ADOT (8.5) are concerned, and his adjusted completion percentage (73.1 percent) is on par with recent QB prospects since 2015. Penn State never put high-end receivers around Allar, and his loss of tight end Tyler Warren after 2024 likely explains some of his drop-off in 2025, but the lack of big-time throws on his profile is concerning, given his traits. Allar’s ability as a runner is another plus that has earned him plenty of praise with scouts, but coaches will need to find a way to tap into his potential to see if he has more to offer. For all his flaws, Allar has displayed a good sense for avoiding sacks when pressured, boasting a career pressure-to-sack rate of 12.9 percent while taking only 43 sacks on 1,144 dropbacks. There’s a lot of work to be done here, but Allar is a worthwhile project that could change a franchise if coaches can find a way to maximize his abilities.

Bernard (6’1/206) spent two years as a backup, split between Michigan State and Washington, during his underclassmen years. It’s normally fair to point out a lack of early-career production as a red flag, but it’s hard to blame him for not producing while parked behind Jayden Reed, Keon Coleman, Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk, and Jalen McMillan over those two seasons. Finally at Alabama in 2024, Bernard logged a team-high 50 receptions for 794 yards and two scores. He again led the Crimson Tide in catches in 2025 with 64 and turned that into 862 yards and seven scores while also running for 101 yards and two scores on 18 attempts. Bernard is slippery with the ball in his hands and can win at any level of the field, even if he makes his money on short and intermediate looks. He also has over 500 career routes from the slot and out wide each, meaning he should have no issues playing whatever role his NFL team needs. Bernard isn’t lightning-fast on tape and a 4.48 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine is solid, but nothing to write home about. He should stick around the league for a long time, though it’s fair to question the ceiling of his fantasy outlook.